Marius Dewilde at Quarouble
Marius Dewilde, a metalworker, said he found a dark craft on the railway line by his house in Quarouble, France, on the night of 10 September 1954.
Marius Dewilde, a 34-year-old metalworker from Quarouble, in the Nord, told the press that at about 10:30 pm on Friday 10 September 1954 he saw a dark mass on the railway a few metres from his garden. At first he took it for a cart. The newspaper reports say he then heard steps behind the garden balustrade and turned his flashlight that way.
According to Dewilde, his dog had been barking since 22:30 and he went out with a flashlight after the barking went on. He walked toward the tracks and saw an object six or seven metres off. He pointed the light and saw two small humanoid figures, which he estimated at between 80 and 100 centimetres tall. The press report describes beings in diving suits, about a metre high or less but very broad in the shoulders, and says Dewilde was unsure whether they had arms.
All of this comes from Dewilde. Later versions add details missing from the first press reports.
"According to Dewilde, on the night of 10 September 1954, his dog started barking at 22:30. Dewilde initially ignored the disturbance, but went outside with a flashlight after his dog continued to bark frantically. He walked towards the tracks, and he saw an object some 6 or 7 metres (20 or 23 ft) away from him. Behind him, he could hear some steps. When he pointed the flashlight, Dewilde purportedly saw two small humanoid figures, whose height he estimated as being between 80 and 100 centimetres (31 and 39 in)."
- Seeing the Future of Civilization in the Skies of Quarouble: UFO Encounters and the Problem of Empire in Postwar France, Palgrave Macmillan / Springer
- The 1954 French flap, September 10, Quarouble, Nord (press reports of 1954), Patrick Gross, ufologie.patrickgross.org